The American newspaper "Washington Times" quoted an Australian scientific study as saying that the emerging corona virus contains unique characteristics that suggest that it was tampered with in a Chinese laboratory and was not the result of a natural event.
The five scientists who conducted the study discovered Corona's ability to infect humans with great ease.
Scientists said that there is no evidence yet that the virus can be found in other animals, including bats, or even exotic wild animals, which are sold as fresh meat in the market of the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus first appeared.
The initial report of the study, which is now being reviewed by counterparts, is based on computer modeling of the virus's ability to infect various animals, including humans.
Nikolai Petrovsky, principal investigator, said his team suspected human manipulation of the virus in Wuhan because of the unparalleled ability of the virus to infect human cells.
He said in a statement about the study that the strength of the virus’s attachment to human cells far exceeds the characteristics of infection with other animals.
"This is in addition to the fact that no similar virus has been found in nature, which indicates the possibility of it being a human-made virus," added the professor at the College of Medicine and Public Health at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.
The research team finds that it is quite reasonable that the virus was created at the Biosecurity Facility in Wuhan by testing its access to human cells via ACE2.
ACE2 is the abbreviation for "angiotensin converting enzyme 2", and is the entry point that the virus uses to reach human cells and spread, such as lung cells that contain ACE2 receptors.
Petrovsky indicated that the "laboratory-made" Coruna virus could also be infiltrated outside the facility through an accidental infection of a staff member who then visited the Wuhan Wild Animal Market.
The virus may also have been discharged from the laboratory by improper disposal of medical waste in the Wuhan laboratory, or the infection has spread to a cat or any type of animal that comes into contact with the infected waste.
The research team believes that the rapid development of the virus and its unique ability to infect humans are either "a striking coincidence or a sign of human intervention".
Fox News television reported in a previous report that the virus originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, not as a biological weapon but rather as part of China's effort to show that its efforts to monitor and combat viruses equal or exceed the capabilities of the United States.
However, a study published by the scientific journal Nature in March, in which researchers from the universities of Edinburgh, Colombia, Sydney and Toleen participated, found no evidence that the virus was made in a laboratory or otherwise engineered.
"By comparing the available genome sequencing data for known coronavirus strains, we can be certain that SARS Cove 2 (corona origin) originated through natural evolution," said Christian Andersen, associate professor of immunology and microbiology and one of the authors of the study.